Immune Boosters??

Hi all,

Herman and I are immune boosting mode because of his demodex. I realize that due to vaccinations, a previous infection that he took antibiotics for, teething and just general life stressors (like his mom constantly harassing him), I can understand why his little immune system is struggling.

So I've got probiotics and enzymes. I think others on the forum are really impressed by Nuvet Plus so I will try that too as a supplement. I have coconut oil and wild salmon oil. We've been using coco for weeks but havent started with the salmon yet. We got our grain-free food which is also supplemented with probiotics and

Do you have any other advice on what other things I can do to help rev up the process? Certain veggies or fruits I can give him daily maybe? He loves frozen blueberries and carrots, but I only give him those sporadically and he gets yogurt usually everyday.

My main concern is making sure I'm doing all I can to improve his skin and coat at the same time as well as helping ward off any yeast infections and allergies and improving his digestive system.

Re: Immune Boosters??

@elearn
I really want to try NuVet. The dog's version contains alfalfa though, which our guy is allergic to. They told us to try the cat version, which is the same without the alfalfa, but it makes me wary, especially with the cost. Right now we have Free Form Snip Tip capsules (fatty acids) and Gentle Digest probiotics as rec'd by the vet. I loved the Prostera probiotic by IAMS that you must refrigerate, but they went up to $35 for about a 3 week supply so I had to stop those. I liked them a lot though and saw good results - not so sure yet about the Gentle Digest, it's only been a few weeks.
Good luck with your immune boosting! Sounds like you are on a great track!

PS Have you done an allergy panel? Our guy is allergic to a lot, including potato (white, not sweet), which the majority of grain free contain! It's been so hard to find a grain free good food for him, and have only found ONE that doesn't contain any of his allergens - Earthborn Meadowfeast.

Re: Immune Boosters??

@bulliemommi - I havent yet done an allergy panel yet. I'm sure I'd drive myself nuts if I had a list of allergens though. So far, so good though since he doesn't have a lot of itching (I never see him scratch or lick or anything) unless he just suffers. I will check out the Free Form capsules - there are so many options that it's confusing!

Re: Immune Boosters??

For demodex, you have to stop with the people food. No fruits and veggies or grains. The mites feed off of the sugars/carbs so you will need to stop giving those foods. Other than that, it really looks like you have your bases covered.

Re: Immune Boosters??

@GatorRay - ahh thanks, that's good to know. Does that mean I have to put him on a different dog food - it has carbs in it, full of veggies and fruit (peas, carrots, apples, etc)? 25% Carb according to Earthborn. Or do you mean no fresh veggies and fruits? Gosh more confusion

Re: Immune Boosters??

Originally Posted by elearn

@GatorRay - ahh thanks, that's good to know. Does that mean I have to put him on a different dog food - it has carbs in it, full of veggies and fruit (peas, carrots, apples, etc)? 25% Carb according to Earthborn. Or do you mean no fresh veggies and fruits? Gosh more confusion

No, you don't have to change food . Just cut out all of the extra fruits and veggies you are giving. Instead, consider liver or a raw egg . For the liver, you can actually cut it up in small pieces and put it on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. Once frozen, you can put them in a ziploc and just give him one as a treat. Don't know if you are squeemish, but it is a great option . Plus, the liver will give him a boost. I would only give two small pieces a day. If he isn't used to it, it might cause his poo to get soft if you give a lot (like 5 or 6 a day is too much lol). Yogurt (fat free, plain) is ok too

Re: Immune Boosters??

Originally Posted by GatorRay

No, you don't have to change food . Just cut out all of the extra fruits and veggies you are giving. Instead, consider liver or a raw egg . For the liver, you can actually cut it up in small pieces and put it on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. Once frozen, you can put them in a ziploc and just give him one as a treat. Don't know if you are squeemish, but it is a great option . Plus, the liver will give him a boost. I would only give two small pieces a day. If he isn't used to it, it might cause his poo to get soft if you give a lot (like 5 or 6 a day is too much lol). Yogurt (fat free, plain) is ok too

Haha ok - I was in a panic again. Luckily I only give him like 4-5 blueberries total per week - and he hasnt had a carrot in weeks. So at least that hasn't caused too much damage because I was beginning to worry LOL I may try the liver, I'm pretty squeemish. He had been eating the freeze dried chicken livers but I stopped buying those, I'm sure my freezing them fresh would be better! Gosh I've had to step out my comfort zone so much with this dog - killing bugs with my bare hands, becoming a poo handling expert, now livers LOL I dont remember going through all this with any of my other dogs.

For demodex, you have to stop with the people food. No fruits and veggies or grains. The mites feed off of the sugars/carbs so you will need to stop giving those foods. Other than that, it really looks like you have your bases covered.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. Abby is a vegetarian and fruits and vegetables are her entire diet. She had demodex a few months back and had a bad reaction yo the ivermectin so she couldn't take it.

We cured hers by boosting her immune system with vitamins and adding MORE fruit to her diet.

Re: Immune Boosters??

When Usko was around 4 months he had what the vet suspected was Demodex (no scrapings done). It was very mild case so no medication, exept we switched to raw food and it was cured in few months. In this pic below you can se his bold spots. That was also the date we switched to raw...

Re: Immune Boosters??

Originally Posted by RiiSi

When Usko was around 4 months he had what the vet suspected was Demodex (no scrapings done). It was very mild case so no medication, exept we switched to raw food and it was cured in few months. In this pic below you can se his bold spots. That was also the date we switched to raw...

I bet all the good protein and fresh foods got him strong and healthy quickly. How long until you saw improvement?